Review by Booklist Review
There are three things to remember about the spirit realm: follow the rules, get consent, and do not eat or drink. Another unspoken guideline is to trust no one beyond the border between the mortal and spirit worlds. Controlling each domain is a god or demon who will kill for sport, especially anyone who breaks their rules. The border keeper has had many names and inhabited untold vessels over innumerable years, but she lives alone and does not suffer fools lightly. She once loved a god king but lost him to treachery and murder centuries ago. A wandering scholar arrives at her home, seeking passage, though he will not specify what he is looking for in the world of spirits. He has a sad story that brought him to her door, and for reasons she does not understand, will compel the guardian to accept him and act as his guide. With parallels to a range of mythologies, Hall's elegant descriptive language evokes a vivid world of lost souls and revenge in this fast-paced fantasy debut.--Lucy Lockley Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This quiet but intricate novella, shored up by rich prose, takes readers through the eerie, fantastical terrain of the afterlife. A man named Vasethe comes to the guardian of the boundary between the world of the living and Mkalis, the spirit world. His request is an old and familiar one: for her to be his guide as he ventures into the spirit world of Mkalis to find the soul of his departed lover. As the story slowly unfurls, however, branching like the bloody, beautiful, and disorienting 999 realms of Mkalis, Vasethe's secrets slowly come to light, revealing that his goal is not quite what he made it out to be-and also that his quest threatens the stability of the boundary the border keeper has protected for her hundred lifetimes. Though the final chapters feel rushed, racing so quickly to a conclusion that some details get skipped along the way, the tangle of love, loss, grief, and regret that is gradually exposed as the book's emotional core feels tender and profound. Readers more interested in the journey than the destination will savor this venture into the underworld. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT In her first novel, Hall surprises and perplexes with spellbinding yet simple dialogs that raise more questions than they give answers. The mysterious, dark, and often violent worlds envelop readers in a cacophony of mystery and fantasy. Even the identity of the female lead is foggy as her form shifts over time, taking possession of new bodies. As the title reveals, someone protects the border, and from the first few chapters we glimpse demons reminiscent of Haitian worshippers possessed by Gede, the spirit of the dead. Shapeshifting and underworld realms take center stage. The characters eventually grow, becoming stronger as plots progress, expressing extreme power and weakness. Life and death feel mutable in the imaginary arena of Mkalis. Points of contact are elaborately visualized, boundaries normally fixed dissolve within the pages, terrifying and wild apparitions manifest and recede just as quickly as they appear, resulting in wonder. VERDICT For fans of occult-tinged speculative fiction.--Rachel Evans, Univ. of Georgia Law Lib., St. Athens
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A journey into an underworld filled with gods and demons, beauty and danger.The border keeper lives in solitude on the shadowline between Ahri, the realm of the living, and Mkalis, the spirit realm, until a man named Vasethe arrives and calls her Eris, a name she hoped had been forgotten. He's come to travel into Mkalis. A woman he loved is dead, and Eris can guide him through the underworld to find her. He just has to follow a few simple rulesdon't eat or drink anything, and don't lie. Even an accidental untruth can lead to brutal punishment. Meanwhile, Vasethe's mortal body will lie sleeping at the border keeper's house, where the Ageless are approaching the fence, testing the strength of Eris' wards. The underworld created here is rich and strange, populated with children transformed into translucent crabs, armored, cloven-hooved bird-faced creatures carrying masked riders, and glittering parties where the wrong word can kill. But debut novelist Hall throws readers a little too far into the deep end, offering almost no details about who Vasethe and Eris are and what they want, which makes them hard to connect with. The bones of a great story are here, but too much becomes meaningful only in hindsight, when key information is finally revealed.An intriguing debut from a writer with the skills to create weird and wonderful worlds, this one is almost great. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
